On Monday morning, the Supreme Court will file opinions in People v. Merritt, People v. Brooks, and People v. Garcia. All three were argued on the January calendar.
In Merritt, the issue is: Is the failure to instruct the jury on the elements of a charged offense reversible per se or subject to harmless error review? (See Neder v. United States (1999) 527 U.S. 1; People v. Mil (2012) 53 Cal.4th 400; People v. Cummings (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1233.)
Garcia raises the issue whether the conditions of probation mandated by Penal Code section 1203.067, subdivision (b), for persons convicted of specified felony sex offenses – including waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination, required participation in polygraph examinations, and waiver of the psychotherapist-patient privilege – are constitutional.
Brooks is an automatic direct appeal from a July 2001 judgment of death.
The three opinions can be viewed Monday starting at 10:00 a.m.